Prime Minister Hinds (centre) flanked by Mr.Bharat Dindial (left) and Mr. Horace James (right).

Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) is assisting Linden is preparing for electricity theft in the wake of an increase in tariffs there, according to a senior power company official. 

The tariff hike from July 1 is part of efforts to integrate Linden into the national grid over the next two to three years. 

GPL’s Chief Executive Officer, Bharat Dindial said his company is training workers of the Linden Electricity Company Incorporated (LECI) and putting systems in place to combat expected electricity theft. 

“You would recognize that with increased tariffs, the ugly head of electricity theft would rise potentially in Linden and that LECI would have to be prepared to deal with that,” Dindial told a news conference. 

He said some of GPL’s experiences in Georgetown would be shared with LECI to prepare them for that phenomenon. “If, in fact, that becomes a major issue then, off course, government’s efforts to garner additional revenue could be derailed somewhat by higher losses in particular the non-technical area,” he added. 

LECI buys electricity from the bauxite company, BOSAI Minerals, and sells it to Linden consumers on the east bank of the Demerara River and to Linden Utility Services Cooperative Limited (LUSCL) which then sells to customers on the western bank.

LECI’s Chief Executive Officer, Horace James told the news conference that the tariff increase was introduced because Lindeners have largely ignored repeated calls to conserve electricity. He noted that bright lights could be seen in houses even at midday. 

James also justified the decision to reduce the amount of free electricity to bauxite pensioners from 300 KWh to 50 KWh, saying that they were among the highest electricity consumers. 

“When we look at the actual consumption of our customers, it is not surprising that the pensioners  are the highest consumers,” he said. James said the pensioners use about 300 KWh monthly while other residential consumers use about 260 KWh over the same period. 

Against the background of calls by the Region 10 administration and the opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) for Linden to be given special treatment, the GPL boss ruled out the power company charging different rates when Linden is fully integrated into the national grid.

“In the GPL license, we cannot discriminate between consumers in the same tariff category so if consumers in Linden become part of the GPL system, we cannot charge one residential tariff in Georgetown and a lower residential tariff in Linden,” he said.

APNU plans to seek redress for its political stronghold through a motion in the National Assembly, aimed at getting government to create a better investment climate in Linden and so create jobs.

Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, however, promised that Linden would continue to inject some funds to bridge the gap between GPL’s rates and the consumers’ ability to pay. Repeatedly shying away from straightforward answers about whether Linden was in bad economic shape, Hinds pointed to growing business and employment opportunities in the wood sector and agriculture.

Hinds cautioned that if international oil prices escalate, government would have to fast-track the integration of Linden into GPL.

Berbice has been integrated into the national power grid since the mid 1980s.